EPF interest for FY 2025-2026 to be auto-processed and credited by July 15

Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on July 8 announced that the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will start crediting the annual interest for FY 2025-26 to 34 crore member accounts.

"Annual interest for FY26 at the rate of 8.25 per cent to 34 crore member accounts, estimated at over Rs 1.44 lakh crore, will be auto-processed and then verified by Field Authorities before being credited to the member account balances. Members will be able to view the interest credit in their passbook by July 15,"_ PTI_ quoted Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya as saying.

The move marks a significant shift from past years, when EPF subscribers generally had to wait until the latter part of the year for the annual interest to be credited.

The online access of provident fund accounts has been enabled with the implementation of 2.01 CITES (centralised IT-enabled services) by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), the minister told.

The announcement comes just days after retirement fund body completed a major database consolidation and software upgrade. The upgrade, which temporarily disrupted online services and delayed claim processing, is aimed at improving the speed, reliability and efficiency of EPFO's digital services.

EPFO credits interest to subscribers’ accounts only after the rate is formally approved and notified by the finance ministry.

On March 2, 2026, the CBT in a meeting chaired by the Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, decided to retain EPF interest rate at 8.25% for the fiscal year 2025-26, keeping the rate unchanged for the third consecutive year.